Bishop Toso: war is spiral that never ends

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis announced yesterday that September 7th will be a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria and worldwide.

The Secretary for the Pontifical Council Justice and Peace, Bishop Mario Toso, commented today that war is a spiral which never ends, and in which the causes of justice are ignored.

Listen to Giulia Cirillo's report:

"It’s never the use of violence that brings peace. These are the words of Bishop Mario Toso, commenting on the Pope’s Angelus of September 1st. War brings war, he says, because it traps nations in a spiral of death.

War carries within itself a distorted vision of power interpreted as oppression and dominion. In this context, the “other” always remains an antagonist, an enemy to defeat, and never a brother. War never ends, and the causes of justice are ignored. True power, as Pope Francis says, is love. Love strengthens others, it inspires initiatives of collaboration for justice and peace.

Civilian societies, Bishop Toso says, exhort their representatives on the one hand to definitively leave aside armed conflict – "never again war", he says, quoting Pope Francis – and on the other hand to work, intensely and with conviction, for peace.

The conflict in Syria contains all the ingredients to explode into a war of worldwide proportions. No one would come out of it unharmed by conflict or by an experience of violence. There can be no alternative but that of reasonable encounters, of initiatives based on dialogue and negotiation."